Brand retargeting has some big players already. Think about when you have scrolled through the DSW shoe site, didn’t find what you wanted, so you cruised to Zappos.com. Then, aha…wait… those glorious shoes of your dreams were there. They were glittering in your mind’s eye. That true sweet perfection you were seeking. Yeah, but you didn’t buy them. As the attention-span-of-a-gnat that you have become since the dawn of social media, imagine this if you will: a couple of minutes pass.
You are now on Facebook lol’ing at your dog-plus-cat “Happy” video, and whammy – side bar feed of your freshly picked out shoes from Zappos appear. Hmmm… Interesting. A day later, you’re on the local news station site: oh, hello there… sneaky shoes. You’ve been Zappos’d again. This is effective retargeting.
Papa’s got a brand new bag
What does this have to do with real estate you ask? Well, those who are in the know, are well aware that retargeting has been a tool in the toolbox with our buddies at Zillow for some time now. I have to tell you that I see Chris Speicher, Co-founder for the Speicher Group of Olney, Maryland more than he may know. I dig the guy. Well played, my friend. Well played. Imagine though, if Chris were in motion. If he were not just a static photo of a happy-go-lucky, world-class agent that I know that he already is? Imagine for a second that his retargeted messaging through Zillow had video content of one of the many beautiful homes that I know he and his phenomenal team had in their portfolio.
Speicher Group is already working on this tactic within their own firm, which is going to set this team up for even more staggering growth. Retargeted marketing is on its way, Olney, Maryland! Let me tell you first of all that in 2010, Chris and his wife did six transactions. Last year, they did 110. This year, they are set up to do 250. Yowzahs. They are on fire, and with a team of twelve, who are all working their online lead pillars highly effectively, the retargeted marketing campaign they are creating for their hyper-local Maryland market is going to explode even further.
The vision in video
“Video is a great idea and is the next natural progression for those on the cutting edge vertical,” Speicher said when asked about the idea of adding the video element to the retargeted marketing campaign. “In fact, we’re about to launch it on our site.” It is a huge opportunity for firms with small teams to get top of mind with their clients who have been navigating their site, sending out favorites via their social media platforms and they get retargeted messaging about that specific home that they have been looking at on the Speicher Group’s site.
The retargeting platform they are creating in-house would pull together the video of homes and even highlight the purchase process, bringing the consumer experience full-circle all from a one-time origination on their site. He came up with the idea while in conversation with his contacts at Boomtown and Hubspot. Speicher is the full-time business organization and development visionary for their business, and his wife, Peggy Lyn is their superstar agent. This dynamo agent will go on up to twenty-five listing appointments a week; way to rock it out, Peggy Lyn! Together, the Speichers have cultivated a spectacular business platform that still has room to grow. Someone is doing something right!
Some next level brand retargeting
Remember, retargeting is just a mere step in a complex system of campaign, brand management and strategy. Think of it this way, you are trying to become relevant with your prospects, so that they are seeing you and staying top of mind. You can’t just count on them coming to your site and then being done with it. The nurturing still needs to happen. Some folks have created platforms to make the process of retargeting much more simplified. This is incredible; it makes those of us who don’t know coding, or apps or how the “interweb” really, truly works eyes get all starry eyed, but to this end, also comes a big question.
Can this type of retargeting work for a single agent?
Speicher mentions that, “unless an individual has created a large enough brand in and of themselves, retargeting may be cost prohibitive.” My continuation of his thought was that not only would it be a cost prohibitive marketing endeavor, the campaign could possibly be completely pointless, maybe even lost in the shuffle, if there is no major brand identity to latch onto for the consumer. Focused-retargeting will be the way to go and that first interaction with the agent’s site will be the reason they come back for more.
The video gurus
When considering the brilliance of this type of retargeting, there are some amazing app developers that come to mind that come from the wheelhouse of creating video content, and are now making retargeting with video as their main advertising stream. Take for example Fuel451, formerly ignite video, which has recently launched to create retargeted branding with a focus on cost-effective, retargeted branding with video content for the underdog.
What I mean by that is the average agent out there is not Anthropologie, who has a killer retargeted marketing campaign. I will admit to falling victim to it, and yes. Yes, I bought the flipping dress because I broke down after seeing it fifteen times across multiple avenues of web-dom. Does this mean it will happen with real estate? We shall see. Maybe the addition of movement, and that non-static image will be the key. What Fuel451 has to say about themselves: “Online video advertising is now within your reach. Fuel451 helps you create and launch online ad campaigns, so you can retarget potential customers and bring them back to your site…Our technology constantly measures your ad performance and makes the next ad even better. Fuel451 does the work for you, so you can focus on what’s important — your business and your customers.”
Some aren’t going to be able or willing to do the heavy lifting on a project like this themselves, so brokerages will be considering firms like Fuel451. Quinn Regan, Director of Business Development at Fuel451 is in full-tilt build mode. From my discussions with him, their team can create the ad, and do the tracking and measuring. This sounds ideal for the independent agents and small teams who don’t have huge marketing geniuses behind them creating applications and the like.
Hitting the target
For now, there are a select few agents out there, maybe like the Speicher Group and those who have subscribe to Zillow’s Premiere Agent platform who get to take advantage of the retargeting rage. Will video be the next big thing? It sounds like the hyper-local focused retargeting campaigns will become a wonderful option for those looking to get known by their community.
Real Estate agents who are the “one-off” will still need to build up their brand awareness prior to kicking off a big campaign. They should think big like the Speicher Group and do test campaigns, but be able to support them before launching. Working with a company like Fuel451 can help take the guess work out of building a product from scratch, because those types of firms can do it all for you. Do your research first and get to know the products available if you are looking to be the retargeting master in your target market.
Genevieve Concannon brings business savvy, creativity and conscientiousness to the table in real estate and social media, marrying marketing and sustainability while setting herself and Real Living at Home apart from the masses. She is a hardcore sustainability nerd, even founding the well known Green Drinks events.
